Paramedics transfer patients to triage at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto but have no choice but to leave them in the hallway due to an at-capacity emergency room, on Jan. 25.Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canadian medicare is suffering from long-standing problems that can only be fixed through long-term reforms. It’s also facing an immediate crisis – been to an emergency room lately? – that has to be tackled immediately.
This pair of challenges eating away at our health care system are distinct, yet linked. To have a tomorrow, medicare needs breathing room now.
The birth of medicare – 60 years ago this summer – happened under similar circumstances. The NDP government of Saskatchewan had a long-term plan to overhaul health care, starting with the introduction of the country’s first system of universal health insurance.
But before Saskatchewan could get started, it had…
